Fire-escape.



No. 809,038. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

W. F. THOLE F. OTT.

` FIREBSGAPE.'

. APPLICATION FILED' JUNEa, 1905.

,2 SHEETS-'SHEET 1A PATBNTED JAN. 2, 1'906. W. P.. THoLB & P. OTT.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1905 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILHELM F. THOLE AND FLORIAN OTT, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

` FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J' an. 2, 1906.

T0 a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,'WILHELM F. THOLE and FLORIAN OTT, citizens of theUnited States of America, residing at Allegheny, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements infire-escapes; and the primary object of the invention is to provide anovel form of iire-escape applicable to buildings having two or morefloors.-

The invention aims to provide a collapsible iire-escape which can beconveniently retained in a compact form when not in use and easily andquickly placed in position for use should a nre occur in the buildingequipped with our improved fire-escape.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fire-escape which willnormally be retained in an inoperative position, novel means being emploed in connection with the fire-escape for p acing it in an operativeposition, said means being so constructed that it can readily beactuated upon any floor of a building equipped with the hre-escape.

With the above and other objects in View the invention consistsin thenovel construction, combination, and arrangements of part, which will.be hereinafter more fully described and then specifically pointed outin the claims, and, referring to the drawings accompanying thisapplication, like numerals of reference designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectionalview of a portion of a building equipped with our improved fire-escape.Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail perspectiveview of a portion of the fire-escape, illustrating the constructionofone of the metallic steps forming the stairway of the fire-escape; andFig. 4 is a detail perspectiveview of a piece of structural materialemployed in connection with the fire-escape.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated a three-story building1 equipped with our improved {ire-escape. The fire-escape proper ispreferably supported from the top of the building by twooutwardly-extending beams 2 2, which may be a prolongation of the'structural beams of the building. These beams are adapted to extendoutwardly above the sidewalk or pavement of the street which thebuilding confronts. The outer sides of the beams 2 2 are provided withoutwardly-extending pins 3 3, and upon said pin rests a substantiallyrectangular casing or housing 4. The sides 5 5 of the casing or housingare slotted, as indicated at 6 6, to receive the pins 3 3, and betweenthese pins upon each side of the housing are depending flanged portions7 7, to which is secured the top 8 of an annular shell 9, suitable meansbeing employed to retain the shell in engagement with the portions 7 7,as rivets y10. Transversely of the housing or casing 4 We mount a shaft11, upon which is journaled a roller 12. Over this roller is adapted topass cables 14,whichsupporta platform 15. The top and bottom floors ofthe building are provided with brackets or supports 16 16, in whichl arejournaled rollers 17 and 18, the roller 18 upon the bottom floor of thebuilding having its shaft provided with a suitable crank-handle 19,whereby it can be readily rotated. The floors of the building adapted tobe occupied by persons are provided with similar brackets or supports 2020, in which are journaled rollers 21 21, the end of each roller beingprovided with a toothed roller 22 22. Adjacent to each roller we providea standard 23, in which is pivotally mounted a toothed lever 24,adaptedyto engage the toothed wheel 22 of each roller.` The shorter armof the lever 24 is provided with an eyelet 25, through which a cable 26passes, and

upon said cable is adjustably mounted, by

screws 27, blocks 28, which are adapted to engage the eyelets 25 of thelevers 24. The cable is adapted to pass through openings 29, formed ineach ioor of the building, the upper end of the cable being supportedfrom a suitable pulley or roller 30, journaled in brackets 31, carriedby the ceiling of the uppermost compartment or iioor that is occupied.The cables 14, which pass over the roller 12 and support the platform15, extend into the building through an opening 32, formed in the wallof the building, and pass overthe roller 17, around the rollers 21 21,and have their ends secured to the roller 18, which serves functionallyas a windlass.

Between the top 8 of the shell9 and the platform 15 we construct aspiral collapsible metallic stairway which is adapted to be retainedwithin the shell 9 when not in use. In Fig. 1 of the drawings we haveillustrated a portion of the nre-escape or spiral stairway IIO in anoperative position as would be the case should a fire occur in thebuilding 1, or the position which the fire-escape would assume if thelevers 24 were actuated by an occupant of the building. Each step of thestairway is suspended from the top 8 of the shell 9 or from the stepdirectly above, as would be the casein connection with a spiralystairway. In supporting the steps we preferably employ flexible wirecables, whereby when the steps are moved into the shell 9 saidl cableswill fold and occupy a comparatively small space therein. Each stepconsists of a tread 33, supported by the angular ends 34 34 of hangers35 35. A developed view of one of these hangers is illustrated in Fig. 4of the drawings, where it will be seen that each hanger consists of ametallic strip 36, the one end of which is bent to form a guide 37,while the other end is bent to support the one end of a tread. The stripis also provided with diagonally-disposed grooves 38 38 and with atransverse groove 39, said grooves forming guideways 40 and 41 when thestrip of m aterial is bent to form a hanger. A plurality of thesemetallic steps are used to form a spiral stairway, which when in anoperative position will extend from the uppermost floor of the buildingto the ground-floor, whereby the occupants of the different floors canreadily descend in case of fire. In order to support the different stepsin a spiral form, cables 42 are employed to carry the first tier orconvolution of steps, said cables having their loose ends xed to theunder face of the top 8, and the cables are adapted to pass through theguides 40 of each step and retain each step in proper relation to oneanother. In placing the cables 42 we preferably arrange them in anet-like form, whereby they will form walls or supports that may begripped by persons descending the lire-escape. A spirally-arranged cable43 is also employed, which is adapted to pass through the guide 41 ofeach step, said cable serving to retain the stairway in a spiralformation and also serving to properly space the steps when the stairwayis being placed in an operative position. The next tier or convolutionof steps is supported by cables 44 from the guides 33 of the stepsdirectly above, said steps and cables being arranged similar to thecables 42, heretofore mentioned. This construction and arrangement isused throughout the entire height of the 'lire-escape and in connectionwith each convolution of steps, the number of steps employed dependingon the height of the building and the number of floors. lt will beobserved that the topmost convolution of steps has a smaller radius thaneach of the other convolutions of steps, the radius foreach convolutiongradually increasing until the lowermost convolution is reached. This isoccasioned by the guides 37 of one convolution supporting the guides 40of the next convolution, and so on until the lowermost convolution orplatform 15 is reached. This arrangement of each convolution of stepspermits of the lowermost steps telescoping or coinciding with thetopmost convolutionA of steps when the 'lire-escape is in a collapsedposition within the shell 9. This construction permits of the stairwaysbeing shielded within thev shell from the forces of nature, such aswater, which has a tendency to corrode or rust the metal from' whichfire-escapes are generally constructed.

ln case it is desired to use thev fire-escape by the occupants of thebuilding it is only necessary to pull upon the cable 26, which wouldelevate the toothed ends of the levers 24 and permit the spiralstaircase to descend by gravity, the supporting-cables 14 14 beingunwound from the windlass or roller 18 until it has reached the groundor pavement adjacent to the building. After the hre-escape has been usedit can be readily replaced within the shell 9 by operating the windlassor roller 1S and setting the levers 24 24 in engagement with theirrespective toothed wheels, which support the spiral staircase in acollapsed or folded position.

Ve do not care to confine ourselves to the arrangement of the cablessupporting the steps or to the location of the rollers and theirrespective locking means within the building.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire tosecure byLetters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a building, of a collapsible metallic spiralstairway supported from the outside of the building near the topthereof, said collapsible stairway consisting of a plurality ofspirally-arranged steps adapted to telescope one another, a platformsuspended at the base of said steps and from the top of said stairway,means contained within said building to elevate said platform totelescope said steps, means to lock said steps in a telescoped position,means to shield said steps in said position, and means mounted withinsaid building and actuated from the floor of the building to releasesaid steps.

2. The combination with a building, of a shell supported upon theoutside of said building near the top thereof, a spirallyarrangedmetallic stairway suspended from said shell, a-platform supported by thebase of said stairway, means mounted within said building to elevatesaid base and said stairway into said shell, and means carried withinsaid building to release said stairway and said platform, substantiallyas described.

3. The combination with a building of a spirally-arranged telescopicstairway suspended from the top of said building and adapted to benormally retained in a telescoped position, means to shield saidstairway in said IOO position, means actuated from each floor of saidbuilding to release said stairway, and means mounted within saidbuilding to telescope said stairway, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a building, of a telescopic spirally arrangedstairway suspended from the top of said buildin means to normally holdsaid stairway in a te escoped position, and means to release saidstairway, substantially as described.

5. In a lire escape, a plurality of telescopic steps spirally arrangedand adapted in their movement in one direction to operate by gravity,and means for positively moving the steps in the opposite direction. y

6. A lireescape of the character described consisting of a plurality ofspirally-arranged telescopic steps adapted to be suspended from abuilding. i

7. In a lire-escape, a suitably-supported shell, a spirally-arrangedstairway suspended from said shell, and comprising a series oftelescoping steps, means for normally holding said stairway in atelescoped position and means to release said stairway.

8. In a nre-escape, a plurality of telescopic spirally-arranged steps,adapted to be suspended in the form of a spiral stairway, and means forsuspending said steps.

9. In a nre-escape, a suitably-suspended telescopic spiral stairway, andmeans to normally retain said stairway in the telescoped position.

10. In a fire-escape, a suitably-suspended telescopic spirally-arrangedstairway, and means for shielding said stairway when in its telescopedposition.

11. In a nre-escape, a telescopic spirallyarranged stairway, means forretaining said stairway normally in the telescopic position, and meansfor releasing said stairway.

l2. In a lire-escape, a plurality of spirallyarranged telescopic steps.

In testimony whereof we aiiX our signatures in the presence of twowitnesses.

WILHELM F; THOLE. FLORIAN OTT.

4Witnesses:

C. KLosTERMANN, JOHN G. WITTMANN.

